By Joseph Checkler and Peg Brickley
Hedge fund Standard General LP will lead the bidding at a bankruptcy auction of 1,700 or more RadioShack stores, as the electronics retailer tries to save some of its struggling business.

By William Boston
BERLIN--The buzz over who would become the next chief executive of auto maker Volkswagen AG gained volume this week as current boss Martin Winterkorn suggested the field is wide open.

By Jason Ng
KUALA LUMPUR--Shares of Integrax Bhd (9555.KU) rose as much as 6.6% after state-owned power company Tenaga Nasional Bhd (5347.KU) raised its takeover offer for the port and terminal operator to 761.5 million ringgit ($211 million).
Integrax hit a high of 3.22 ringgit and last traded at 3.21 ringgit around 0250 GMT.

By Will Connors and Paulo Trevisani
SÃO PAULO--A decision by a major credit-rating firm to downgrade to junk status the debt of Petróleo Brasileiro SA is stoking fears that Brazil's sovereign rating could be next.

By Benoît Faucon and Rory Jones
TEHRAN--Decorated with a foosball table, brightly colored walls and videogame consoles, the offices of Café Bazaar look no different than many Internet startups in technology hubs like San Francisco, London or Berlin.

BEIJING--China's central bank should ease banks' loan-to-deposit ratio and increase liquidity in the banking system to encourage lending and head off deflation, according to the research chief of the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd.